Why do Honda transmissions fail?

Christian Donner,

I saw this question asked in various places, but no satisfactory answer was given. While only Honda knows the answer with certainty, I think there is enough evidence between my own experience and reports on the web of failing Accord and Odyssey transmissions to support a theory.

In 2004, Honda issued a recall for the 2003 Accord. The transmission was to be checked for discoloration of certain metal parts (from overheating), and the transmission was to be replaced, or in the absence of enough visible (thermal) damage, an oil jet kit was to be installed.

The oil jet kit was supposed to provide extra cooling (enough to get most transmissions on the road through the extended warranty period).

So clearly it was known in 2004 that the 2003 Accord transmissions had a thermal problem due to faulty design. The transmissions were overheating and there was  concern about failure.

When a transmission overheats during normal operation, its thermal design is faulty. The transmission fluid does not transport the heat away from the source fast enough. The system overheats, and the fluid itself and certain other parts can no longer do their job. The fluid loses viscosity and does not lubricate, metal parts warp, gaskets fail, valves get clogged, and the transmission can no longer function. The transmission fluid fails, and soon thereafter the transmission will fail as a result.

I believe that the symptoms (erratic shifting once the transmission warms up, very dark transmission fluid soon after it was changed) are a strong indicator that the theory of thermal problems is correct.

What I do not know is whether Honda addressed this issue in the design of the 2004 models and later, and if a replacement transmission is less likely to suffer the same fate. This remains to be seen. Hopefully, our replacement transmission will outlast the car regardless.

In reference to this post I received an email with a link to this page. It contains a much more detailed explanation than I could ever give. In essence, the claim is that Honda engineered a new type of transmission in the 90s – hydraulically actuated manual transmissions. They originate from F1 racing, are easier and presumably cheaper to make, but don’t shift as smoothly as conventional planetary gear ATs. To overcome this and to address customer complaints, Honda applied a variety of tricks to make the transmission engage more gradually, all of which contributed to the overheating. Read the article for details.

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Comments (10)

  1. Pingback: quiero comprar un accord coupe 2003 denme opiniones

  2. 2003 Honda Accord EX V6. Purchased car not longer than 3 months. Driving Route 78 back home from work, all the sun the car start acting crazy, Gears start changing down to first gear and kicking. never experience anything like it. I owned a Honda Civic before, never acted like that. Well same day good thing i was closed to the dealer where i purchased the car, dropped it for service. Lucky i got an extra insurance that was covered. The dealer service Manager Called me up and gave me the bud news that the transmission needs replace. Well they told me since i have only 3 months only driving the car they could replace it for free even if i didn’t have the insurance.
    Well i thing HONDA should step in and take care everyones with such a problem.

  3. I owned a 2000 accord coupe. This car had a transmission recall. Honda replaced it at no charge and about 18 months later that one failed. They paid for 90% of the cost of that one. So after 3 transmissions and after a laundry list of other very costly, unusual Honda problems, I traded in the obvious LEMON for a toyota. sorry to hear they have not got their act together since my daughter is considering buying a 2003 accord coupe from a small lot in our area.

  4. I own a 2003 Honda Accord Ex-V6 that I bought in late 2002; however, we may be divorcing soon. I did love this car and at 176k we have been through many miles together. I suspect a problem earlier on because of a small leak of red fluid on my garage floor. After some deductive reasoning (and some arguing with the tech’s at the local Honda dealer) I concluded it was transmission fluid. The small leak seemed to have gone away on it’s own, but the initial presence aroused my suspicion. I did the recall, which again alerted me to potential future problems. The car and the transmission seemed to operate very well until about 10k ago, when the third gear started to slip. I flushed the transmission twice within three months time and the problem seemed to go away. Today, I experienced what I read about above. The violent downshifting, the slipping between gears, and eventual stuck in first gear. Luckily, I got down the hwy safe and home safe. I am figuring out my next course of action. The car is in pretty good shape and I have maintained it well. I do have some other work that needs to be done, so I am estimating that work in addition to the potential 2k to 3k worth of tranny work. This is the first major issue that I have really had and overall the car has been great. I am stuck at the home, both at home and at my next course of action. After reading your post, perhaps Honda will kick-in for part of the repairs? I might try that route tomorrow. Any suggestions would be appreciated. toma30068 at yahoo. Thanks for the great info!!

  5. MY CAR WITH OUT ON ME YESTERDAY: MY TRANSMISSION BROKE IT DO NOT WANT TO BACK UP ANY-MORE AND NOT CHANG GEARS AT ALL..SO NOW IT WILL COST ME $2500.00) AND I BEEN HAVING THE CAR SINCE 2007- BUT IT’S A 2003).. HAVE TO COME OUT MY POCKET FOR IT TO.. AND IT HAS 114,000-MILES ON IT… I JUST CAN’T BE LEAVE THAT THE TRANSMISSION WENT OUT SO SOON..IT’S ONLY A 8-YEAR OLD CAR…I KNOW NEXT TIME NOW ALL THIS MONEY GOING DOWN DA DRAIN.. AND STILL HAVE A CAR-NOTE ON IT THAT’S BAD…

  6. My Honda Accord V-6 2003 with 109,000 miles. One owner, that’s me. Regular oil change all these years, 95% of service done with Honda dealership. Today,, my car started “jolting” for lack of better terms) as I was driving on the bridge during rush hour.. It felt like someone was stepping on my breaks constantly. Drove with care with emergency lights on until I got to the nearest Honda Service, only to find out that the service place was under construction, and that they’ve temporarily moved to another city about 8 miles away. Called for emergency assistance to tow car to that Honda Service. I told them what happened and replied that the car might have a transmission issue. A SHOCKER!! They called later to inform that car needs transmission oil flushed out and replaced. Cost: over $250. They tested the car and it did ran without the “jolt” and they claimed that it did go on reverse. They said that by replacing the transmission oil, the car is” buying time” about 2 months, then maybe transmission will need replacement..

  8. what a shocking news about Honda cars, I just bought 2004 accord from the auction. i drove it to honda dealer to check everything on the car, they said everything was good except some things like the timimg belt and pump that needed to be changed later. I was driving to work one afternoon when the car started losing presure. it stop acelerating only huming when you press the gas. but when you turn it off and start again, it will begin ti move for some time then starts the same thing. now i do not even know whether it is transmision. I hope to go back to the dealer again tomorow to see what the matter real is which I stronhly believe it is the transmision. I call AAA to tow the car home or else I will sleep on the way from work.

  9. I have a 2004 pilot that has recently been slipping when you accelerate from a dead stop. Also when you accelerate hard it shifts extremely rough and jolts. Putting it in reverse has been giving me problems too. I put it in reverse step on the gas slightly and it clunks and the tires chirp. The car has 80,000 miles and the tranny is garbage.

  10. I have a ’03 Odyssey that we purchased new. It currently has 107k miles with no transmission issues. I am intrigued and concerned by the excessive premature transmission failure issues I have read. My spouse and I are light footed on the accelerator and I believe this is link as to why our Honda transmission hasn’t fail.

    The Odyssey/Accord V6 engines have 240 Hp with 240 ft-lb of torque. This is a substantially strong engine when coupled to the lighter factory automatic transmission. I would suspect that these transmissions fails prematurely due to heavy footed American drivers who accelerate aggressively from a complete stop, accelerate aggressively while their wheels are tightly turned, and punch the engine when driving up hills (such as acceleration ramps). The V6 engines have extra torque capacity to handle this abuse, but I suspect the transmission is too weak to handle this excessive torque. The tranny fluid quickly gets hot and the weakest point will be transmission failure. I am not sure if this is an engineering design issue, but I suspect that a savvy attorney could subpoena the Honda factory engineering design records and prove the excessive engine HP/torque output should not have been coupled to the inferior transmission torque capacity. Either the engine should have been detuned to provide less torque to match the transmission capacity or the transmission should have been beefed up or engineered to match the engine torque capacity. Honda should be aware of and provide properly engineered vehicles to meet the heavy footed abuse of American drivers. Honda and all of the other foreign car makers already appease to the American driver’s lust for larger and more powerful vehicles.

    I am somewhat of a mechanical engineer, so my conclusion as to the “cause” of this premature transmission failure comes naturally obvious to me.

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